Tennant to challenge Capito in W.Va.

West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant intends to run for Senate in 2014, according to two Democratic sources familiar with her thinking.

The expected announcement by the former television reporter gives Democrats their first credible candidate in an uphill campaign against Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito. Tennant is known across The Mountain State for her work in the media and has twice won statewide elections to be secretary of state, though she was unsuccessful in a 2011 gubernatorial run.

Story Continued Below

The race will be key to Democrats’ efforts to retain control of the Senate majority next year, given a number of tough reelection races for red-state Democrats and the 2014 retirements of longtime members of the upper chamber, including West Virginia Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee downplayed Tennant’s ability to keep Rockefeller’s seat in the Democratic column, calling her a “cookie-cutter liberal.”

“Strategically, Tennant is great for Republicans in that she’s enough of a mirage to keep national Democrats and donors walking through the desert without offering the ability to ever drink. Tennant is far too liberal for West Virginia Senate,” the NRSC said in a statement to POLITICO.

Democrats hold a vast registration edge in West Virginia, though split ticket voters were the norm in 2012. Voters went for Mitt Romney over President Barack Barack Obama by nearly a two-to-one margin, while Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin easily won reelection over John Raese.